When owners or managers of web sites (“Webmasters”) want to increase user traffic to their web sites, a common strategy is to approach other Webmasters and propose a link exchange.
A link exchange is when two Webmasters mutually agree to include links to each other's web sites on their own web sites. Typically, these links are displayed within a dedicated section on each of the Webmasters' web sites (a “Partner Widget”). Users often utilize these links to navigate to other web sites, thus increasing user traffic. When two Webmasters agree to a link exchange, the expectation is that an approximately equal amount of user traffic will be directed to each web site from the other web site. In order to ensure equal amounts of user traffic are exchanged, many Webmasters that engage in link exchanges, particularly those at web sites that receive relatively large amounts of user traffic, agree on specific amounts of user traffic that they will send to and receive from each of their link exchange partners (“User Traffic Targets”). Once User Traffic Targets are agreed upon, the Webmasters display links to the other web sites in their Partner Widgets and track the amount of user traffic that they send to each of their link exchange partners by utilizing analytics tools (such as Google Analytics). When a User Traffic Target has been met or exceeded, the Webmaster removes the links to their link exchange partner's web site and replaces them with links to another one of their link exchange partners' web sites.
If a Webmaster's web site does not receive a steady flow of user traffic, it can be difficult to accurately predict an amount of user traffic that they may be able to direct to another web site. As a result, these Webmasters may agree to display links to their link exchange partner's web sites without agreeing on User Traffic Targets and hope that the link exchange partnerships are equitable.
Even for Webmasters that can mutually agree on User Traffic Targets, it can be very time consuming to manage multiple link exchange partnerships that are occurring in parallel because each new partnership likely requires the technical task of updating their web sites. Furthermore, in the event that there are fluctuations in user traffic to a Webmaster's web site, the Webmaster may need to make modifications to User Traffic Targets, which requires contacting the other Webmaster and coming to a new agreement.
Whether or not User Traffic Targets are agreed upon, since there is not an independent, governing body that tracks the user traffic that is sent between web sites, Webmasters may not know whether their link exchange partners are using the same tools and methods to record user traffic.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved methods and systems for managing link exchanges that remedies the shortcomings of the prior art.